Writing
Books
Congdon, William J., Jeffrey R. Kling, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2011. Policy and Choice: Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Journal Articles
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, Daniel Teles, Alexandra Stanczyk, and Carlos Martín. 2020. “From Bad to Worse: Natural Disasters and Financial Health.” Journal of Housing Research, vol. 29, no. sup1 (2020), pp. S25–S53.
Congdon, William J. and Maya Shankar. 2018. “The Role of Behavioral Economics in Evidence-Based Policymaking.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 678, no. 1, pp. 81–92.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, Signe-Mary McKernan. 2018. “Prepaid Cards at Tax Time and Beyond: Findings from the MyAccountCard Pilot.” Journal of Consumer Affairs, vol. 52, pp. 286–316.
Benzarti, Shlomo, John Beshears, Katherine L. Milkman, Cass Sunstein, Richard H. Thaler, Maya Shankar, Will Tucker, William J. Congdon, Steven Galing. 2017. “Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?” Psychological Science, vol. 28, no. 8, pp. 1041–1055.
Congdon, William J. and Maya Shankar. 2015. “The White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team: Lessons Learned from Year One.” Behavioral Science & Policy, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 77–86.
Mullainathan, Sendhil, Joshua Schwartzstein, and William J. Congdon. 2012. “A Reduced-Form Approach to Behavioral Public Finance.” Annual Review of Economics, vol. 4, pp. 511–540.
Babcock, Linda, William J. Congdon, Lawrence F. Katz, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2012. “Notes on Behavioral Economics and Labor Market Policy.” IZA Journal of Labor Policy, vol. 1, article 2.
Sanbonmatsu, Lisa, Jordan Marvakov, Nicholas A. Potter, Fanghua Yang, Emma Adam, William J. Congdon, Greg J. Duncan, Lisa A. Gennetian, Lawrence F. Katz, Jeffrey R. Kling, Ronald C. Kessler, Stacy Tessler Lindau, Jens Ludwig, and Thomas W. McDade. 2012. “The Long-Term Effects of Moving to Opportunity on Adult Health and Economic Self-Sufficiency.” Cityscape, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 109–136.
Baicker, Katherine, William J. Congdon, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2012. “Health Insurance Coverage and Take-Up: Lessons from Behavioral Economics.” Milbank Quarterly, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 107–134.
Congdon, William J., Jeffrey R. Kling, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2009. “Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy.” National Tax Journal, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 375–386.
Kowalski, Amanda E., William J. Congdon, and Mark H. Showalter. 2008. “State Health Insurance Regulations and the Price of High-Deductible Policies.” Forum for Health Economics & Policy, vol. 11, no. 2, article 8.
Book Chapters
Congdon, William J., and Joshua Wright. Forthcoming. “Behavioral Economics, Program Implementation, and Policy Design.” In Handbook of Social Program Design and Implementation Evaluation, edited by Anu Rangarajan and Diane Paulsell. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Congdon, William J., Jeffrey R. Kling, Jens Ludwig and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2017. “Social Policy: Mechanism Experiments and Policy Evaluations.” In Handbook of Economic Field Experiments, vol. 2, edited by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, pp. 389–426. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Congdon, William J. 2013. “Psychology and Economic Policy.” In The Behavioral Foundations of Public Policy, edited by Eldar Shafir, pp. 465–474. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Policy Briefs
Congdon, William J., and Wayne Vroman. 2021. “Covering More Workers with Unemployment Insurance: Lessons from the Great Recession.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Congdon, William J., and Wayne Vroman. 2021. “Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits in Recessions: Lessons from the Great Recession.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Maag, Elaine, William J. Congdon, and Eunice Yau. 2021. “The Earned Income Tax Credit: Program Outcomes, Payment Timing, and Next Steps for Research.” OPRE Report #2021-34, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Congdon, William J., Batia Katz, and Jessica Shakesprere. 2021. “Job Quality and Economic Mobility: Potential Mechanisms, an Empirical Approach, and Directions for Research.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Braga, Breno, Signe-Mary McKernan, William J. Congdon, Elizabeth Mandiville, Mark Hayward, Christopher Trepel. 2021. “Financial Vulnerability in the United Kingdom: From Brexit to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Congdon, William J. 2020. “The Challenge of Slow Wage Growth.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
McKernan, Signe-Mary, Gregory Mills, Caroline Ratcliffe, William J. Congdon, Michael Pergamit, Breno Braga, and Kassandra Martinchek. 2020. “Building Savings, Ownership, and Financial Well-Being: First- and Third-Year Assets for Independence Program Randomized Evaluation Findings in Context.” OPRE Report #2020-30. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, Caleb Quakenbush, and William J. Congdon. 2019. “What Would It Take to Ensure That Every Family Can Achieve and Maintain Financial Well-Being?” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, Alexandra Stanczyk, Daniel Teles, Carlos Martín, Bapuchandra Kotapati. 2019. “Insult to Injury: Natural Disasters: Highlights Brief.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, and Signe-Mary McKernan. 2014. “Prepaid Cards at Tax Time Could Help Those without Bank Accounts.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Research Reports
Congdon, William J., and Wayne Vroman. 2022. The Unemployment Insurance System in Two Recent Economic Downturns: Lessons from the Great Recession and the COVID-19 Recession. Washington, DC: Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Katz, Batia, William J. Congdon, and Jessica Shakesprere. 2022. Measuring Job Quality: Current Measures, Gaps, and New Approaches. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Amin, Samia, Greg Chojnacki, William J. Congdon, Scott Davis, Andrew Langan, Jonah Deutsch, Erin Welch, Ariella Spitzer, and Amy Johnson. 2022. Behavioral Interventions to Improve Work Search Among UI Claimants: Results from North Carolina and Washington. Washington, DC: Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
Treskon, Mark, William J. Congdon, Kassandra Martinchek, and Alexander Carther. 2021. Integrating Financial Capability into Employment Services: Literature Synthesis. OPRE Report #2021-04, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Congdon, William J., Margaret Simms, and Carol De Vita. 2021. Assessing the Impact of Community-Level Initiatives: A Literature Review. OPRE Report #2021-4, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Congdon, William J., Molly M. Scott, Batia Katz, Pamela J. Loprest, Demetra Smith Nightingale, and Jessica Shakesprere. 2020. Understanding Good Jobs: A Review of Definitions and Evidence. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Darling, Matthew, Anne Stotler, Amy Johnson, Gregory Chojnacki, Mikia Manley, Samia Amin, and William J. Congdon. 2019. A Literature Scan and Synthesis of Research on Labor-Related Behavioral Science. Washington, DC: Mathematica.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, Alexandra Stanczyk, Daniel Teles, Carlos Martín, Bapuchandra Kotapati. 2019. Insult to Injury: Natural Disasters and Residents' Financial Health. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Ratcliffe, Caroline, William J. Congdon, and Signe-Mary McKernan. 2014. Prepaid Cards at Tax Time and Beyond: Findings from the MyAccountCard Pilot. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Working Papers
William J. Congdon, “Neighborhood Effects on Decision-Making Processes by Low-Income Adults and Youth,” working paper (March 2012).
William J. Congdon, “Grade Organization and School Performance: Evidence from Texas,” unpublished manuscript.
Selected Commentaries
William J. Congdon, Archana Pyati, and Joe Peck, “A Renewed Urgency to Strengthen Unemployment Insurance’s Automatic Triggers,” Working Knowledge (blog), WorkRise, November 4, 2021.
Archana Pyati, William J. Congdon, and Joe Peck, “Lessons from Unemployment Benefit Expansions During the COVID-19 and Great Recessions,” Working Knowledge (blog), WorkRise, October 12, 2021.
William J. Congdon, “There's No Good Time to Return to Pre-Pandemic Unemployment Insurance System,” The Hill, August 27, 2021
Elaine Maag and William J. Congdon, “Monthly or Quarterly Child Tax Credit Payments? Both Have Value,” TaxVox (blog), Tax Policy Center, April 28, 2021.
Pamela J. Loprest, Demetra Nightingale, William J. Congdon, Molly M. Scott, Batia Katz, and Jessica Shakesprere, “A Research Agenda on Good Jobs and Economic Mobility,” Working Knowledge (blog), WorkRise, March 24, 2021.
Pamela J. Loprest, William J. Congdon, Batia Katz, and Jessica Shakesprere, “Do Good Jobs Promote Economic Mobility, and If So, How?,” Working Knowledge (blog), WorkRise, March 3, 2021.
William J. Congdon, Molly Scott, and Pamela J. Loprest, “How Do We Define “Good Jobs,” and How Do They Affect Worker Well-Being?,” Working Knowledge (blog), WorkRise, March 3, 2021.
William J. Congdon, “Improve Unemployment Insurance to Help Workers Stay in the Labor Force,” Urban Institute Feature: How Government Jobs Programs Could Boost Employment, May 6, 2020.
Demetra Nightingale, Pamela J. Loprest, and William J. Congdon, “The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Already Affecting Workers. Three Policies Can Help.,” Urban Wire (blog), Urban Institute, March 9, 2020.